let some other man who is living in the last 
century and is voting for Andrew Jackson, 
buy the poor. cow. If you don’t, you’ll get 
left every time. 
On the subject of ensilage, it was generally 
agreed that the corn should be nearly or quite 
matured before it is packed in the silo, to re¬ 
ceive the best results. It could then be cut 
up, or put in whole, with or without ears, 
and come out sweet and good. Mr. Moore 
had tried the Evergreen Sweet Corn, but it 
spoiled and he wanted no more of it—there is 
too much sugar in it to keep. He thought it 
might be saved perhaps, if the ears were taken 
off. He had succeeded well with ordinary 
State corn, making silage almost equal in 
food value to the best June Grass. He feeds 
silage once a day. Mr. Hart had tried sor¬ 
ghum cane and it spoiled completely. The 
Wassaic Condensery will not receive milk 
from silage-fed cows, but most of the members 
thought such milk was just as good condensed 
as any other, and could not be distinguished 
from it. H - H - 
RED CAPS, JERSEY BLUES, AND 
ANDALUSIANS. 
The Red Caps and Jersey Blues have been 
admitted into the poultry Standard of Excel¬ 
lence, and now have a place by the side of the 
well known breeds as entitled to recognition. 
They are not new breeds, however, the Jersey 
Blues being known in this country long be¬ 
fore the Plymouth Rocks, while the Red Caps 
have been bred in England for many years. 
Red Caps strongly resemble the Golden- 
Spangled Hamburgs, but are larger in size, it 
being supposed that the Game was used with 
the Hamburg when the Red Caps were origi¬ 
nated, but this, however, is not a certainty. 
The cock weighs from seven to eight pounds 
and the hen about a pound less. The comb is 
similar to that of the Hamburgs, but deeper 
and more cup-like in front, hence the name of 
“Red Cap.” The ear-lobes and face are red, 
while the ear-lobes of the Hamburg are white. 
The plumage is beautiful, the hackle being a 
rich red striped with black; the saddle red 
striped with bluish-black, and the breast and 
tail black. The back is black and red; wings 
chestnut, with black and bluish-black; legs 
slate-colored or dark. The feathers on the 
body of the hen are deep chestnut, striped with 
a circle of rich, glossy black; black tails, with 
neck black, the feathers being striped with 
red. They have faint spangles, or circles, 
somewhat similar to those of the Golden Ham¬ 
burgs. The Red Caps are non-sitters. They 
lay large, white eggs, and are considered in 
England one of the best laying breeds known. 
Jersey Blues are similiar to the Plymouth 
Rocks iD size, but differ in color, and are 
more compact in body. By some they are re¬ 
garded as blue (or dark slate-colored) Ply¬ 
mouth Rocks. They often attain the weight 
of twelve pounds for cocks, and are regarded 
as a very hardy breed. As table fowls they 
are excellent, the meat being white and fine¬ 
grained. They lay large eggs, dark, and 
somewhat spotted. They are excellent sitters 
and mothers, and but for the prejudice in 
America against dark legs would become 
very popular. The plumage is somewhat uni¬ 
form throughout—dark slaty blue—being 
lighter, however, on the under parts. The 
hen is rather lighter than the cock. 
Andalusians may be described by styling 
them “ Blue Minorcas,” as they resemble the 
Minorcas in every respect, except color of 
plumage. The general color is slaty-blue, or 
bluish gray, and they are not very unlike the 
Jersey Blues in plumage. They are a stand¬ 
ard breed, having been admitted five years 
ago. Like the Minorcas, they are non-sitters, 
and lay large, white eggs, and possess all the 
good qualities of the non-sitters. It may be 
stated that there is a strong resemblance be¬ 
tween Leghorns and Minorcas, but the Minor¬ 
ca and the Andalusian are larger in size than 
the Leghorn. White Leghorns have yellow 
legs, but the legs of White Minorcas are flesh- 
colored. The Andalusians are an old estab¬ 
lished breed, having been bred in this country 
before Black and White Minorcas were intro¬ 
duced. P* H. JACOBS. 
KEEPING A FLOCK LAYING IN 
WINTER. 
My method of keeping hens laying in win¬ 
ter for profit is as follows: 
The house is large enough to accomodate 
25 fowls, being 15x9 feet with posts 7x5}£ feet, 
and two windows. The floor is of board, cov¬ 
ered with dry sawdust, and the house is cleaned 
out once a week. There is very little ventila¬ 
tion in the winter, and there are no drafts. 
The roosts are two feet from the floor. The 
dust bath is the most essential part of the 
hennery, both for health and exercise. I 
have a box 4x2%x2 feet, filled with four wa¬ 
ter pails of dry loam, two pails of fine coal 
ashes, one pail of dry sawdust, one pail of Ifine 
tobacco dust—the sweepings from a cigar or 
tobacco factory. I replenish it as often as 
necessary. The loam is put into the house 
cellar in the fall. I use two barrels during 
the winter. Seven or eight hens can dust or 
wallow together, and it keeps them busy and 
contented. 
Feeding.— Early in the morning I give a 
warm feed of stale bread,boiled potatoes,meal, 
chopped meat, celery and cabbage chopped 
fine—the whole being sprinkled with black pep¬ 
per. At 10 o’clock a feed of barley and buck¬ 
wheat is given; at two o’clock the same, and 
at four o’clock a feed of whole corn. Water, 
warmed to about 105°, is given with each 
meal. I keep a small box of granulated bone 
and also a box of charcoal on the floor, and 
once a week they get a feed of chopped onions. 
I give occasionally ground oyster shells to aid 
digestion. I have never had a sick chick or 
fowl or a louse in my hennery, and do not use 
kerosene, carbolic acid or any other insecti¬ 
cide. The dust bath does the business. Last 
year I kept 23 pullets which netted me, from 
Dec. 15, 1886 to May 1, 1887, $51.54, besides 
what eggs I used in the family. This winter 
I am keeping 21 pullets, and I am doing bet¬ 
ter than last year, having got from 10 to 17 
eggs a day through December and January to 
date (January 21). I keep no old hens, be¬ 
lieving in pullets for winter layers. 
Somerville, Mass. J- E - H - 
PITHY POULTRY PARAGRAPHS. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name 
nd address of the writer to insure attention. Before 
asking a question, please see if it is not answered in 
our advertising columns. Ask only a few questions at 
one time. Put questions on a separate piece of paper.! 
Tameness op Fowls.— None of our domes¬ 
tic animals so readily acquire habits of tame¬ 
ness or shyness, in accordance with the treat¬ 
ment they receive, as poultry. They are 
easily taught to eat from the hand, or just as 
easily to be scared away whenever one ap¬ 
proaches them. They can be taught not only 
tameness, but even affection towards those 
that attend them. By visiting them in their 
runs or houses, and giving them little niceties, 
they will turn up their faces and prate in quite 
an interesting manner, plainly acknowledging 
the attention paid them, seeming to enjoy the 
company of their friends. On the other hand, 
if one goes hurriedly through the exercise of 
feeding and watering them, not staying to pet 
or notice them, even if they get all they re¬ 
quire, they soon become wild and shy. It is 
best to keep fowls tame. They can be better 
looked after in case of sickness, and any that 
are ailing are more easily detected. When 
shy an ailing bird among a flock will some¬ 
times escape notice till roup is far advanced. 
When accustomed to one’s presence lie may go 
through the houses at night and examine them 
on their perches. There is quite as much dif¬ 
ference in individual fowls as in other animals 
with regard to tameness. Some will allow 
handling, while others will resent such liber¬ 
ties. It is very desirable to have sitting hens 
tame. Some people keep their fowls tame by 
half starving them, and when they go to feed 
the poor things, the latter will fly all over 
them. Such tameness as that is not commend¬ 
able. 
During Long Cold Spells, unremitting 
care of poultry is required. Animal food is 
then more needed than at at any other time, 
or they are apt to indulge in the amusement 
of denuding each other of the covering nature 
has endowed them with. 
The Dust Bath must not be forgotten. 
See that it is dry and clean or vermin will 
multiply. 
With regard to Parasites on Poultry 
there is in general a great misaprehension. 
Many an amateur imagines that the perch 
mites, so often called lice, are the principal 
pests fowls are troubled with. There are 
more than a dozen distinct species of lice on 
the bodies and plumage of cocks and hens 
alone, to say nothing of those infesting ducks 
and turkeys. Dusting the fowls thoroughly 
with fresh wood ashes, air-slaked lime, snuff 
or Persian insect powder will rid them of all 
these hateful pests. Sulphur ointment or 
kerosene emulsion may be applied under the 
wings, on top of the head, or wherever the lice 
are found in bad cases. henry hales. 
A Profitable Flock.— I keep 40 hens of 
which 23 are pullets. The earliest were 
hatched in June and July, and 12 were 
hatched in August. They lay all the eggs we 
use in the family besides some six dozen a 
week which are sold. I feed them grain of 
all kinds and in the morning I generally 
give them ground’ feed wet. Nearly every 
day I pound up a lot of bones for them. For 
a nest egg I prick a hole in each end of an egg, 
blow the contents out and fill the shell with 
plaster-of-Paris made liquid in water. 
Apalachin, N. Y. D. E. s. 
YIELDS OF POTATOES AT THE R. G. 
E. P. N. (no address). —1. The Rural 
claims to be able to raise at the rate of 700 
bushels of potatoes to the acre; I would like 
to obtain from it minute directions as to how 
this can be done? 2. What variety does the 
Rural’s experience indicate as likely to give 
the greatest number of bushels of potatoes of 
good quality per acre? 
Ans. 1. No, that is a mistake. On the Rural 
premises is a plot of land not over one-tenth 
acre m extent. This is land that rarely if ever 
suffers from drought and, being well drained, 
never suffers from too much moisture. Wo 
have used large quantities of all sorts of plant 
food on this plot, though it has not received 
much manure. On it, during 10 years or 
more, the average yield of potatoes has, we 
think, been over 700 bushels to the acre, while 
we have raised as high as at the rate of over 
1,500 bushels to the acre. Seven and a half 
pounds to the hill is our heaviest yield. In 
order to commit ourselves in advance, as is 
the Rural’s custom, we may say that we 
have planned to put most of this plot in pota¬ 
toes next season—using for seed half a dozen 
perhaps of the best yielders among the old 
kinds and the Rural Seedlings, Nos. 2, 3, and 4. 
Now we are willing to wager $100 or more, 
the winner to give the money to some bene¬ 
volent project, that the yield will be more 
than at the rate of 700 bushels to the acre, let 
the season be what it may; the potatoes to be 
dug in the presence of six well known persons, 
and the yield to be computed by them and 
the results to be sworn to. Our method of 
potato culture has been stated over and over 
again. See, for example, last week’s R. N.-Y. 
2. Silver Lake, Everett, Summit, Jewell, 
Columbia, Charter Oak, Morning Star, Early 
Gem, Snowflake, Late Vermont, White Ele¬ 
phant or Late Beauty of Hebron, White Star, 
Burbank, Empire State, Home Comfort, Early 
Maine, Cream of the Field, Coiliss’s Matchless, 
Bonanza, Late Hoosier, Montreal, Green 
Mountain, Hodgman’s Seedling, Nott’s Vic¬ 
tor, Pearl of Savoy, Early Puritan, Rural 
Blush, Crown Jewel, Polaris, Delaware. Not 
all of these are of good quality as grown at 
the Rural Grounds, but the quality may be 
good in other soils. 
“DISTEMPER"’ OR STRANGLES IN A YOUNG 
MARE. 
H. D. B., Concord, Tenn —What is the best 
simple treatment for distemper in a horse? I 
have a four-year-old mare that has com¬ 
menced coughing, and as she had a very 
severe case of distemper last spring I want to 
take this in time. She eats heartily and is in 
good order, but she urinates too often, only a 
small amount at each time and that of a 
thick, yellowish cast. Her hair is in toler¬ 
able good order. My treatment has been to 
gi-vp her a good, warm bran mash every 
morning and what good hay (clover and Tim¬ 
othy) she will eat. Am I right? 
Ans. —If you are correct in supposing that 
your mare had a severe attack of the “dis¬ 
temper” last spring, it is most likely that the 
present cough is due to some other cause, per¬ 
haps a simple cold or sore throat. “Distemp¬ 
er” is a very indefinite, general term, and may 
mean any one of several diseases, mostly of 
the respiratory organs. In the present case 
we suppose the disease of young horses, better 
known as strangles, is meant. For the cough 
and urine give the following: Mix one dram of 
solid extract of belladonna and four drams of 
powdered nitre with sufficient honey or sirup 
to make a thick paste. Smear this dose upon 
the back teeth and tongue, to be swallowed at 
leisure, three or four times daily until the 
symptoms are relieved. If the animal is 
feverish give 25 drops tincture of aconite 
thrice daily. If the bowels are costive, give 
warm water injections every four hours until 
relieved. Your idea of dosing horses and the 
treatment you gave were quite right, although 
we prefer to give the warm bran mashes at 
night. 
CROPS FOR GREEN MANURING. 
G. O. G., Kankakee , III. —In a late Rural 
the advice is given to sow rape to be plowed 
under for green manure. Catalogues men¬ 
tion it only as a bird seed. How much should 
be sown; when; how many crops can be ob¬ 
tained in the season, and where can fresh seed 
be bought? Will it succeed 50 miles south of 
Chicago? Would it be advisable to sow it 
with anything else? Would field peas be a 
good crop to sow with it? How about oats? 
Will cow peas succeed here for plowing under? 
When should they be sown? Where can pure 
rape seed be obtained? 
A NS ._Rape is not much grown in America 
as a feeding or green-manuring crop, although 
it well deserves to be. It is so closely allied to 
the turDip as to be grown in precisely the same 
manner, that is, by sowing the seed in the 
smoothly harrowed soil and then lightly har-, 
rowing it in. Peter Henderson’s catalogue 
mentions it under the head of turnips, and 
the price is 30 ceDts per pound. For plowing 
under it may be sown in May and three or 
four pounds of seed should be sown per acre. 
It grows quickly and may be plowed under in 
August. It will grow anywhere on this con¬ 
tinent where turnips will. Field peas would 
make a good manuring crop did they not tan¬ 
gle up so much owing to which habit they are 
troublesome to cover. Cow-peas make an ex¬ 
cellent manure crop and will grow in your 
locality. Sow one bushel per acre when corn 
is sown, broadcast on plowed ground and har¬ 
row in the seed. Shedman & Co., St. Louis, 
will supply them. 
LAMENESS IN A COW. 
J. O. W., West Falmouth, Mass. —My cow 
is very lame in her hind legs. There is some 
swelling between her gambrel and hip joints. 
She can get up on her fore legs, but cannot on 
her hind ones. She cannot stand. She was 
first affected last summer in one hind leg; now 
both are attacked. She has a good appetite 
and is perfectly well only for the lameness. 
She will calve in February; what will do her 
good? 
Ans. —We cannot give the cause of the trou¬ 
ble from your description. Being so near the 
time of calving we would not recommend ac¬ 
tive treatment until after the calf is dropped. 
Then if necessary write again, giving a full 
history of the trouble as well as the nature and 
extent of the swelling. In the meantime fre¬ 
quently bathe the swellings with water as hot 
as fie hand can bear, and rub dry after each 
bathing. Give the following powders: bicar¬ 
bonate of soda, nitrate of potash and powdered 
gentian, each one pound, mix, and give two 
tablespoonfuls three times daily in the feed. 
If the bowels are costive give four ounces Ep¬ 
som salts every other evening until relieved. 
See that the animal has the best of feed and 
care, and place her in a box stall with plenty 
of litter, where she will not be liable to slip 
and can get up and down as comfortably as 
possible. Perhaps the trouble will disappear 
without further treatment after calving. 
HEAVES IN HORSES, ETC. 
W. S. E., Owock, Minn. —1. What is a rem¬ 
edy for heaves in horses? 2. How did my 
specimen of corn sent for trial to the Rural 
Grounds last spring, turn out? 
A.NS. —Mild and recent cases can be always 
relieved and often cured by turning the 
affected animals out on natural pastures or 
feeding on corn-stalks or other laxative diet. 
Feeding on dry grain with carrots, turnips, 
beets or potatoes and a scanty amount of 
water will enable a broken-winded horse to 
do a fair amount of work without distress. 
Hay should never be allowed except at night, 
and then only a small quantity that is clean 
and sweet. Keep the bowels loose by laxa¬ 
tives—sulphate of soda, two or three ounces— 
and the stable well aired. Give also sedatives 
to relieve the trouble—digitalis, opium, bella¬ 
donna, byoscyamus, stramonium, lobelia. 
Tar water as an exclusive drink is often use¬ 
ful, and carminatives such as ginger, cara¬ 
way, cardamoms, fennel and fcenugrec, may be 
beneficially added. Nerve tonics, however, 
and especially arsenic in five-grain doses 
daily, continued for a month or two, are 
specially advantageous. Never give food or 
drink to a broken-winded horse for two 
hours before it goes to work. 2 Planted 
May 20 Kernels began to harden August 10. 
Stalks six feet high. Suckers very little. One 
and two ears to a stalk. Eight to 12 rows, 
white dent. Kernels large, though not deep. 
Rows close together, no gaps. Ears about 
eight inches long; cob variable, generally 
small. It is the earliest dent we have ever 
raised at the Rural Grounds. 
STERILITY IN A MARE. 
C. H. B., Carman, Minn. —My twelve- 
year-old mare raised a colt at six. Since then 
she has been bred several springs to three or 
four stallions, without avail. She is perfectly 
sound to all appearances. Is there any way 
of getting her with foal? 
Ans. —Cases of this kind are not uncommon. 
There is usually no remedy, except to favor 
as far as possible all conditions that are known 
to be most favorable to conception. Quite a 
large number of mares—20 to 40 per cent— 
will not breed even under the most favorable 
conditions in which they can be placed. A 
simple change of diet will often produce fa¬ 
vorable results. Female animals that are fed 
sparingly, especially of food rich in the albu- 
